Princeton University Class of 2021 SCEA Decisions Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
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Welcome, friends. Get comfortable and if you feel so compelled, relate the sordid details of your high school years which eventually led to you applying to Princeton University.

Please copy and paste from the format below. Make sure you remove the spaces from the tags for that pretty, colorful font.

If you got deferred or rejected, don’t worry, life is not over (even though platitudes from an anonymous College Confidential guy might not cheer you up.). If you got accepted, congratulations! Have fun the rest of your senior year and go have a taco or something.

[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted **[/color][/size]
[ size=4][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Deferred **[/color][/size]
[ size=4][ color=red][ b]Decision: Rejected **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:[/b
]
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown):
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parentheses):
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load:
Number of other EA applicants in your school:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.):

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service:
Summer Experience:

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays:
What You Do For Pleasure:
Department at MIT:
Trait Most Proud Of:
World You Come From:
Significant Challenge:
Additional Essay/QB Essays:
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1:
Teacher Recommendation #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview:
Art Supplement:

[ b]Other**

Date Submitted App:
U.S. State/Territory or Country:
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket Range:
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
What would you have done differently?:
Where else did you apply?

[ b]Other Factors: **

[ b]General Comments & Advice:**

2

[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted **[/color][/size]

ACT (breakdown): 27
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88
Weighted GPA: 4.24
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parentheses): AP Language 4, AP Calc AB 4, APUSH 3 (didn’t submit)
Senior Year Course Load: Calculus BC, AP Literature, Musical theory, Microeconomics + Macroeconomics, weightlifting, Physics
Number of other EA applicants in your school:Don’t know
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): none!

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): I sing locally in my church, Key Club president, Section leader flute, Quarterback Varsity football (varsity since sophomore year), Debate Club secretary
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community Service: varies key club community services
Summer Experience: football camp at Stanford

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays:
common app - wrote watching the Dallas Cowboys with my dad (who played college football at Princeton): 8/10,
Trait Most Proud Of: my drive 10/10
World You Come From: 9/10
Significant Challenge: 8/10
Additional Essay/QB Essays: summers essay - wrote about football camp 10/10
extracurricular essay- wrote about key club 9/10
favorites 8/10
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: english teacher. 7/10
Teacher Recommendation #2: my current physics teacher. 6/10
Counselor Rec: didn’t know me until this year.
Additional Info/Rec: my coach
Interview: it was good

[ b]Other**

U.S. State/Territory or Country: Texas
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Black
Gender: M
Income Bracket Range: 150,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): URM, recruited athlete, legacy

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths: hooks + legacy
Weaknesses: GPA, SCORES SCORES SCORES
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: had the coach’s support + legacy
What would you have done differently?: nothing!
Where else did you apply? no where

[ b]Other Factors: **

[ b]General Comments & Advice:** N/A

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Made an account to post this! Congrats to all acceptances.

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 800/800/710 on old, 800/800 on new
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): only took once each
ACT (breakdown): 35S/35E/35R/36M/22W (didn’t send)
ACT superscore (breakdown): only took once
SAT II (subject, score): 800 math 2, 730 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.83 by my own calculation, my school only reports my weighted
Weighted GPA: 4.56
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
AP (place score in parentheses): Calc BC (5), Stats (5), USHist (5), Eng Lang (5), Physics 1 (5) World Hist (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): no
Senior Year Course Load: 7 classes, the max at my school, 5 APs, one fine art, 1 post-AP
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 1. Don’t know his result yet.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): none
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Won some state-wide and local academic contests, NMSF

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): many school and outside clubs and sports with leadership and stuff. I bet you can guess my favorite sport by my username. Pretty good but not exceptional.
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service:
Summer Experience:
I don’t really feel like elaborating here and I would like to remain anonymous.

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays: Not going into details, but pretty good I think. No typos unlike on this post.
What You Do For Pleasure:
Department at MIT: <—lol fail. I’m majoirng in math though
Trait Most Proud Of:
World You Come From:
Significant Challenge:
Additional Essay/QB Essays:
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: didn’t see ofc, but extremely good I think
Teacher Recommendation #2: also extremely good I think
Counselor Rec: okay I guess
Additional Info/Rec: none
Interview: went good but nothing special
Art Supplement: no

Other

Date Submitted App: about a month early
U.S. State/Territory or Country: not saying for confidentiality (and I’m not staying instate so it doesn’t matter)
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: idk since my parents won’t tell me (which is okay with me) but we qualify for about half price according to Fafsa
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): none

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, I truly love learning and I really am great at math.
Weaknesses: It is so hard to get in here and I didn’t have enough to stand out. If you see a weakness that I have please PM me and tell me. Life is a journey to fix your weaknesses.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: nowhere yet
What would you have done differently?: No regrets. YOLO
Where else did you apply? UChicago, GA Tech (EA), MIT, and I will now add more.
Disapointing, since I know in my heart I would still be great at math and science (esp. pure math) even at Princeton, but I accept the result and congradulate those who got in. You guys deserve it. On to find my perfect fit and live into my wonderful future. Don’t let the negativity on this site get you down. You are all wonderful and in a better situation than >90% of the world’s population (probably, idk maybe not).

4

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2400, one sitting (got really lucky on this one)
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT II: 790 Math II, 780 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank, but highest possible GPA
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Chinese, Computer Science, English Language, English Literature, Environmental Science, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Music Theory, Physics 1, Psychology, Statistics, US Government, US History, World History. 5’s on everything except for a 4 on one of the tests. I have to take Chinese and Environmental Science this year.
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: College Counseling, AP Environmental Science, AP Chinese, Abstract Math, Biochemistry, European History
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist? Not sure if this counts

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Youth Symphony principal cellist - made All-State since 10th grade, Journalist for a humanities organization - published in university newspaper once, school music club (president and founder) - I arrange all their music, NHS (committee leader) - started transportable school library system, science bowl (captain) - state finals, university science research program (hadn’t started doing it yet when I submitted the app though)
Job/Work Experience: taught beginner cello for an hour a week
Volunteer/Community service: library volunteer, daycare teacher at my church
Summer Activities: humanities organization journalist (summer after junior year), went on vacation summer after sophomore year
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App (9/10) - spent a lot of time (months) on this one. It was extremely personal; I talked about being born with a facial deformity but tied it in with other things too. The ending wasn’t that great in my opinion, but it must have been good still.
Writing Supplement about someone who influenced you (7/10) - wrote this a week before it was due. I DO NOT recommend doing that. It was so stressful I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Start early, it’s better. I wrote about my Dad (he’s a music teacher at a public elementary school) and how he influenced my own outlook towards music.
Writing Supplement about summer activities (9/10) - Talked about vacationing to Malaysia the summer after 10th grade and taking care of my baby sister/working at a humanities organization the summer after 11th grade. This essay was really straightforward and chronological, no metaphors or anything like that.
Writing Supplement about extracurricular (7/10) - I talked about working at my humanities organization and how it affected my outlook towards American racial issues.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: History teacher (9/10) - My favorite teacher. I participated a lot in her class (she’s taught me every year since 10th grade), reading extra material and discussing history-related events with her outside of class. She managed to make a normally boring class really interesting, so it wasn’t forced or anything. Teachers can tell if you’re fake, so make sure you do this with a teacher you really like.
Teacher Rec #2: Chemistry teacher (7/10) - He wrote this the day it was due and even forgot where I was applying. He’s super chill though, taught me in 10th and 12th grade.
Counselor Rec: (9/10) She’s an English major so the letter must have been good. I also saw her every day because she taught a college counseling class at my school.
Additional Rec: none
Interview: (7/10) I interviewed a few days before the decisions came out since my interviewer thought I was applying regular decision. He was really nice, but I think he could tell I rehearsed answers beforehand.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Sociology
State (if domestic applicant): AZ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public charter
Ethnicity: Southeast Asian (Malaysia) BTW I’m actually ethnically Chinese, and I mentioned this in my summer essay, but on the app I put Malaysia since that’s what my family identifies with.
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 90K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): facial deformity perhaps? my mom only went to community college so maybe that’s like a half first-gen?
Reflection: Spend a lot of time on your essays, these matter. My Common App in particular was very strong, and I made sure it wouldn’t seem like I was trying to get them to pity me by writing about my facial deformity, tying it in with other things. I couldn’t breathe when I found out I got in; I thought it was going to be a deferral for sure. After I submitted the app at 10:30 PM the day it was due, I kept thinking of how my ECs sucked, how I didn’t have major awards, and how my supplemental essays were trash. So to future applicants, just move on once your app is submitted.
Strengths: test scores and grades, some of the essays
Weaknesses: ethnicity, extracurriculars (didn’t really win major awards or participate in an impressive summer camp)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My Common App about being born with a facial deformity probably got me in. My history teacher rec was probably very good as well. I also started a transportable library system at my school because it didn’t have one (my counselor talked about it).
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: I applied to Rice regular decision, haven’t heard back.
General Comments : I’m still in shock

5

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1400 650/750
SAT I superscore: n/a
ACT (breakdown): n/a
ACT superscore (breakdown): n/a
SAT II (subject, score): n/a
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.75
Weighted GPA:n/a
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):n/a
AP (place score in parentheses): Psychology (5) Spanish (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AB Calc, Political Science, International Relations, English, AP Bio
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 3
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): n/a
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): honor roll and high honor roll, National Spanish Exam (bronze,silver and gold)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Theatre (8-12), President of diversity club and President of comm serv club that benefits developing nations, member of IRC
Job/Work Experience: Work at school’s after school program; cashier at Harris Teeter
Volunteer/Community Service: i don’t know how many hours
Summer Experience: working

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays: wrote about a racist comment a classmate made
What You Do For Pleasure: read!
Trait Most Proud Of: perseverance
World You Come From:
Significant Challenge:
Additional Essay/QB Essays: supplement was about the importance and value of being selfless
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details): 11/10 supplement was 8/10

Teacher Recommendation #1: School psychologist and my Psychology teacher 10/10
Teacher Recommendation #2: Spanish Teacher for two years 9/10
Counselor Rec: also my English teacher and she loves me
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview: went great
Art Supplement: n/a

Other

Date Submitted App: Nov 1
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Virginia
School Type: Independent
Ethnicity: Black and Hispanic
Gender: Girl
Income Bracket Range: 100k-150k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): URM, first generation

Reflection

Strengths: pretty much everything subjective; my essays were the best I’ve written and
Weaknesses: GPA
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
What would you have done differently?: maybe taken the SAT again?
Where else did you apply? Vassar, WUSTL, UVA

Other Factors:

General Comments & Advice: honestly just do you’re best and apply bc you never know!

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[ size=4][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Deferred **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:**
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): took four times see below
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 790 690 24
ACT (breakdown):
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): math 2 800 physics 800 chemistry 790
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): unknown I have gotten one B and the rest were As
Weighted GPA: unknown
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parentheses): Self studies AP Calc AB (5), AP Physics C Mech (5), AP Physics C E/M (5)
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: All duel enrolled: Calc 3, Calc 4, Linear Algebra, Mathematics for Decision Making, Literature, Journalism, Creative Non-Fiction, Business Risk Analysis, Intro to Programming, Robotics, Discrete Mathematics, Digital Circuit Design
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 1
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Dean’s List Finalist,HiMCM Meritorius, put down patent pending for my junior year group engineering project,
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): NHS,

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): big activity is FRC I am the co-captain of my team, I skied varsity at my old school until I got injured, I wrote in the school newspaper
Job/Work Experience: Chipotle
Volunteer/Community Service: FLL coaching, Museum of Science volunteer, math olympiad coach
Summer Experience: JHU CTY, volunteering at the Museum of Science, traveling, Duke Summer Workshop in Mathematics

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays:
Common App: 9.5/10
Princeton Supplement: 9/10
BSE Essay: 9/10
Summer: 9/10
Extracurricular: 7/10
Extra essay from common app on FRC: 10/10

Teacher Recommendation #1:10/10 (eng/his teacher and is my advisor so he chose me as someone he wants to help get into college)
Teacher Recommendation #2: 8/10 (math teacher, I did a lot of extra stuff in math but the one B I got was for a project he was an advisor for)
Counselor Rec: 8/10??? (she says I work hard and such but I do not know how it is written)
Additional Info/Rec: 10/10 (mentor of my FRC team, he writes amazing rec letters)
Interview: 8.5/10 I couldn’t tell tbh
Art Supplement: submitted because yolo 7/10

[ b]Other**

Date Submitted App: 10/31
U.S. State/Territory or Country:MA
School Type: Public magnet
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range:
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): FRC is my main hook, I also showed specific interest in the orfe program and my interest in culture.

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths: essays, sat minus reading, grades, recs, activities and awards
Weaknesses: sat reading section
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: SAT reading
What would you have done differently?: I plateaued at the SAT reading so not much I could do
Where else did you apply? UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, Rice; will be applying to Dartmouh, Stanford, CalTech, Cornell, Georgia Tech, Duke, USC, Northeastern, and maybe one or two more.

7

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1600 (800/800/20), 2280 (800/700/780/10) (didn’t send latter)
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): Both SATs single sitting
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): Math 2 (800), Physics (800), World History (800), Chemistry (800), Biology M (720), didn’t send latter
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (dime a dozen at my school)
Weighted GPA: 6.96 (not normal system)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/604
AP (place score in parentheses): AP Human, AP Bio, AP Calc BC, APCS, AP Physics 1, AP World, AP Lang, APUSH, AP Chem, AP Stats, AP Physics 2, 5s in everything but World, 4 in World
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: First semester: AP Macro/Micro, AP Euro, APES, AP Lit, Linear Algebra, Bridge to Abstract Math (last two at local college) Second semester: same four AP classes plus Philosophy and possibly an AP Physics C self-study.
Number of other EA applicants in your school: At least 2
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): USAMO *2, 2-time PUMaC Individual Finalist, USNCO National qualifier
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): National AP Scholar, Plethora of local math awards, National Merit Semifinalist, Eagle Scout

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Florida Student Association of Mathematics (8-12, Vice President of Competitions and chair of Curriculum Committee, student-run organization that sends teams to math competitions such as ARML, HMMT, and PUMaC)
Mu Alpha Theta (VP of competitions, got students together to practice for first time in awhile)
Boy Scouts of America (since elementary school, and you should know what that is)
Science Bowl (except my school didn’t go to any competitions except the one that every public school in the county goes to)
Beta (on board)
National Honor Society
a whole bunch of minor honor societies at my school

Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service:
Summer Experience: Philmont Scout Ranch, Northern Tier (both Scouting high adventure trips), AwesomeMath (Cornell), Ross (math program at Ohio State), UF SSTP (science research program at University of Florida)

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:
Common App: about developing interest in my school’s math team
Activities: Florida Student Assoc. of Mathematics
Summers: Ross, UF SSTP
Long Supplemental Essay: Backpacking in Boy Scouts
Engineering Essay: about Project Euler and sorting through data for fun
Additional Essay/QB Essays:
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: English teacher (11/10)
Teacher Recommendation #2: Physics teacher (11/10)
Counselor Rec: 11/10
Additional Info/Rec: From FLSAM sponsor (11/10)
Interview: 10/10, talked about lotsa stuff, went really well
Art Supplement:

Other

Date Submitted App:
U.S. State/Territory or Country: FL
School Type: large public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Income Bracket Range: >$150K
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): none

Reflection

Strengths: in descending order, math awards, recs, test scores, well-roundedness (having Eagle Scout and the like in addition to a spike)
Weaknesses: no hooks, no sports, no instruments, only took 3 years of Spanish, didn’t make MOP
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: having a really strong record, awesome rec letters, really there isn’t a magic formula so it’s difficult to say
What would you have done differently?: nothing
Where else did you apply?: Georgia Tech, MIT, Brown, Rice, University of Chicago, Harvard (haven’t heard back from anyone else)

8

[ color=orange][ b]Decision: Deferred **[/color]

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 35C
SAT II (subject, score): two 800s
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/~500
AP (place score in parentheses): Eight 5s
Senior Year Course Load: Seven APs, four college classes
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 2
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): n/a
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Ap scholar w/ distinction, NMSF, couple of school awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Three varsity sports (captain), other couple of clubs w/ leadership
Volunteer/Community Service: Founded a 501©(3) charity – took up most of my time
Summer Experience: not much, couple of programs

Essays:
Common app: 8-9/10
Supplement: 8-9/10

Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: 10, said I was the best student he had ever had
Teacher Recommendation #2: 8, ok
Counselor Rec: 10
Additional Info/Rec: 10
Interview: 7-8

Other

U.S. State/Territory or Country: USA
School Type: private
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Income Bracket Range: high
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): n/a

Reflection

Strengths: ECs, ACT (sort of)
Weaknesses: demographics, maybe freshman year GPA, nothing amazing
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: nothing made me stand out enough
What would you have done differently?: Expanded my nonprofit work to get more notoriety for it
Where else did you apply? Bunch of other schools

General Comments & Advice: Congrats to everyone who got in. You guys deserve it!

9

[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:[/b
]
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2350 composite, single sitting (780 M/790 CR/790 W Essay: 9)
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): n/a
ACT (breakdown): n/a
ACT superscore (breakdown): n/a
SAT II (subject, score): Math II-800 // US History-800 // Latin-780 // Bio E-780
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Weighted GPA: 4.75
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5%
AP (place score in parentheses): Chemistry (5) // APUSH (5) // Stats (5) // Psych (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: My counselor indicated ‘most rigorous’; AP BC Calc, AP Euro, AP Physics C, H Latin, unleveled English
Number of other EA applicants in your school: no clue
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): several relatively major writing awards, poems published in literary magazines, National Latin Exam perfect scores

Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): NMSF

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): leadership in Classics Club and school lit mag, editor/reader at several national lit mags.
Job/Work Experience: n/a
Volunteer/Community Service: English/math tutor, docent at children’s museum
Summer Experience: Summer@Brown, which I only alluded to briefly; visiting family in Asia

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays:
Common App: a narrative about my heritage, relationship w my grandfather, finding my voice. counselor described it as “lyrical.”
Long Supplemental Essay: editing lit mags as a means of social advocacy; highly personal
Extracurricular: the first time my team competed in Certamen, a Latin quiz bowl competition—how our (huge) loss motivated us to improve. pretty cliche.
Summers: editing lit mags, traveling, volunteering

Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: English teacher, 8/10? (I consider English one of my stronger subjects, but I was hardly the most outspoken person in that class)

Teacher Recommendation #2: Precalc teacher, 6/10? (Told me she would write about my strength in math; didn’t know me too well as a person)
Counselor Rec: 9/10 (we established a pretty good rapport during junior year)
Additional Info/Rec: n/a
Interview: it went terribly. the interviewer seemed disinterested, asked me if I had any questions about Princeton and then concluded the interview after twenty min.
Art Supplement: sent in a poetry supplement.

[ b]Other**

Date Submitted App: late October
U.S. State/Territory or Country: MA
School Type: public
Ethnicity: East Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: upper middle class (too high for FA)
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athlete, development): none

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths: essays, test scores, GPA (?)
Weaknesses: not a lot of APs, one B in a STEM subject junior year, teacher recs (?), narrow extracurriculars
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I’d like to think that it’s because I tried to weave a compelling narrative about my desire to effect positive social change, but who knows. I was lucky.

What would you have done differently?: Nothing.
Where else did you apply? Harvard, Yale, Vandy, Cornell, UNC, UMich, etc. I submitted a ton of apps before today.

[ b]Other Factors: ** n/a

[ b]General Comments & Advice:** I go to an affluent, competitive, STEM-oriented public high school. Nevertheless, it’s had a dismal record with the top 20 schools for the past few years. To fellow Asians, in particular, here’s what I’ve learned: a long list of APs and perfect scores will get you through the door, but it most likely won’t secure an acceptance to a school like Princeton. You need to set yourself apart in some way, whether it be through theater or music or writing or sports. Don’t look at all the Asians with 2400s who didn’t get into a good school and lose hope. Humanize yourself. To everyone else: extensive leadership isn’t necessary. I was captain/president of ONE club. One. You don’t need to be the loudest, most magnetic person in the room. I feel like, at least on College Confidential, there’s an over-emphasis on teacher recommendations. They’re important, but remember that they serve, first and foremost, to reveal more about you as a person. If you’re more reserved and you don’t think you connected with your teachers, it’s okay. Trust that your personal qualities will come out in other parts of the application. To freshmen, sophomores, and juniors: get off this website before you become addicted. I owe so much to it and I’ve learned so much, but it’s toxic—it made me so needlessly anxious and bitter. Have faith and remember to live a little.

10

[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:**
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): Didn’t send
ACT (breakdown): 33 (36 W, 36 R, 31 M, 30 S (lol)) with 12/12 Essay
ACT superscore (breakdown): N/A
SAT II (subject, score): Didn’t take (financial hardship)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 6.903/7.000 (weird system…)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/~400 (but unofficially reported as #2, since my school doesn’t report ranks but I won the book award to indicate this and the head of guidance confirmed)
AP (place score in parentheses): Chem (3) Physics 1 (3) Government (5) Calc BC (5) AB Subscore (5) Environmental Science (5) US History (5)
IB (place score in parentheses: N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lang, AP Bio, AP Human Geo, AP Italian, Molecular Genetics, Multivariable Calculus, Honors Orchestra III
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 0 (as far as I know)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): National TSA 3rd place Debating Tech Issues, 2nd place Extemporaneous Speech (idk if this is major because no one cares about TSA but it was kinda cool). QB Non-participating Finalist.
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, High Honor Roll, the usual stuff like NHS, NIHS, etc.

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Debate Team (captain junior and senior year, many many tournament wins but never won states, but it did allow me to get top 3 in two different national TSA events)-- Italian Club (president senior year)-- Music stuff (chamber choir, chorus, orchestra (sophomore through senior, violin)), band (freshman year, clarinet), private voice lessons, sang for Gabriel Crouch in PU Glee Club and submitted voice supplement, etc.)

Job/Work Experience: about 20-30 hrs/week between my restaurant job and a job I have with a startup marketing company. I’ve been working since I became eligible to help my family and pay for lessons and other things they could never afford to give me.
Volunteer/Community Service: Missionary to the Dominican Republic through church (fundraised for it), church stuff, things through NHS, teaching voice lessons for free
Summer Experience: Internship at Yale (Yale LMSRP) and continued research in the center for infectious diseases. Also still worked. Mission trip. Community theatre. Other boring minor things.

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays: CA Essay: 9/10, it was a risk essay about how much I hate making even the most mundane decisions (I talk about hating choosing my lunch dish), but how deciding to pursue a PhD was one of the easiest decisions I’ve made. I explained all of my extracurriculars and how they all fit under the category of “communications” in my eyes (there were a bunch of generic things like dance that I didn’t feel like elaborating on above because they were super minor)
What You Do For Pleasure: I don’t really have much of any free time since I’m always at school or ECs or work, but I would say that my ECs for the most part actually are what I do for pleasure. I love to dance even though I’m mediocre at it, and music is a HUGE passion of mine. Debating was my life for a good 2 years until my coach left.

Trait Most Proud Of: Resiliency. It’s been a tough life.
World You Come From: CT, very poor family near New Haven. Yale actually nourished me intellectually growing up :slight_smile:

Significant Challenge: Very poor family, teen mom, separated parents, neither parents worked, both disabled, grew up with grandparents and very little money, lived with suicidal drug-addict aunt for many years

Additional Essay/QB Essays: Wrote about the struggles above. It was an extended metaphor with seasons representing the phases of my life (fall = childhood, not too horrible, winter = late elementary through sophomore year, pretty horrendous, spring = now/looking forward to college, the worst is hopefully over, college is my bright sunlight of a future)

Teacher Recommendation #1: Biochem teacher (11/10) it was freaking amazing. She’s a PhD and it’s not a typical HS course.
Teacher Recommendation #2: English teacher/debate coach (9.5/10) also really really good
Counselor Rec: No clue but probably pretty good, maybe (8/10)
Additional Info/Rec: From other debate coach (the real one) (12/10) he bragged so much… Most of my teachers ranked me in top 2-10 students they had ever taught, which may or may not be significant, I’m not sure.
Interview: Meh. It was really awkward. Not terrible, but doubt it helped.
Art Supplement: It was okay. I didn’t have money for a recording studio but I think I sounded pretty decent. I have no idea what they’re used to hearing.

[ b]Other**

Date Submitted App: 10/28
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Connecticut
School Type: Large Public (~2000)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: ~70,000, but used to be under 20,000 until last year when my mom got married
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): First gen, idk if QB is a hook

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths: Essays, essays, essays… Being a QB Finalist. Teacher recs were amazing. Pretty much the subjective. GPA/class rank.
Weaknesses: I’m guessing test scores… I honestly almost retook the ACT but I really didn’t have the money so i took the risk.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I really think that they felt for my story. My essays took a very long time to write, but they were very ME. My supplements were also great.
What would you have done differently?: Nothing I guess, because I worked so damn hard on this app.
Where else did you apply?: UVA and UNC Chapel Hill since it was SCEA, nowhere RD yet because I stupidly procrastinated those…

[ b]General Comments & Advice:** Really, really, really spend more time on essays and stuff than testing. Your GPA is what it is by senior year, and your test scores are what they are after you’ve taken them a couple times. You really don’t need a 548995784342.0 GPA and 36/1600 test scores if you can write a great essay and convince AOs why you are a great PERSON-- because you are!! That would be my advice! Good luck Class of 2022 and RD applicants!!! <3

11

Decision: Accepted

SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1360/1600
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1970/2400
ACT (breakdown): 33 34E 35M 33R 28S 34W(first one) 11/12 W (Last one)
ACT superscore (breakdown): 33
SAT II (subject, score): 740 Math II 710 BioE 670WH 700Physics 710USH
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ??? ~3.85
Weighted GPA: 4.2
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesnt rank
AP (place score in parentheses): Macroecon (5) Microecon (3) USH (5) CALC AB (4) Bio (4) World History (4) Eng Lit (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load:
Comp Gov (AP)
US Gov (AP)
English Lang (AP)
Advance Chamber Orchestra
Physics C: Mechanics and Electronics and Magnetism (AP)
Philosophy and Ethics
Modern Middle East
English Language (AP)
Calc based prob and stats (AP)

Number of other EA applicants in your school: 2?
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Founder and CEO, School Investment Group
Founder and Co-President, Conservatives Club
Youth in Government (Head of Office of Budget and Management and Associate Justice)
President, Finance Club
Job/Work Experience:
Crew Member - Fast Food
Volunteer/Community Service: 55 Hours or so
Summer Experience: Minority Introduction to Engineering and the Sciences (MITES)

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays: 9/10: wrote about founding an investment group at my schools and the challenges I had to voercome in doing so
What You Do For Pleasure: Play the violin
Department at Princeton:
Trait Most Proud Of: Humbleness
World You Come From: Ohio
Significant Challenge: ??
Additional Essay/QB Essays: Wrote about my sociopath father (Supplemental Essay)
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Econ (10/10)
Teacher Recommendation #2: Physics (10/10)
Counselor Rec: (11/10) She really cared about me and seemed to take a special interest in me, I really appreciate everything she did for me.
Additional Info/Rec: MITES recommendation 9/10
Interview: 9/10 Good conversation with a women whose son went to my school
Art Supplement: N/A

[ b]Other**

Date Submitted App:
U.S. State/Territory or Country: US
School Type: Independent
Ethnicity: African American/Biracial
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: >100000k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): URM, MITES,

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths: MITES, Recs, ECs
Weaknesses: SAT
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
What would you have done differently?: Nothing
Where else did you apply?: Harvard

12

lol I’m one of those high stat asians @supercilious is referring to

Decision: Deferred

Objective

SAT I (old): 800R/780M/800W, composite 2380
ACT: n/a
SAT II: Math II (800) // Chem (800)
UW GPA: 3.99
W GPA: 4.911
Rank: 1/462
APs: Calc BC – 5,5 // Stat – 5 // Phys 1 – 4 // Phys C – 5 // Micro – 5 // Macro – 5 // US Gov – 5 // Comp Gov –5 // Human Geo – 4 // CS – 3 // Psych – 5 // Latin – 4 // APES – 5
IB: SL Chem – 7 // SL Latin – 6
Senior Course Load: AP Bio, IBHL Math, IBHL Chem, IBHL Bio, IB English, IB History, AP Chem, ToK, IBHL CS
Number of other EA applicants: several
Major awards: USNCO Qualification, 3rd place state piano competition, 2nd place state/regional piano competition, performing in Carnegie, National AP Scholar
Common awards: other AP stuff, National Merit semis, AIME (my scores are garbo), some local stuff, Princeton book award <— lol

Subjective

Extracurriculars: Scibowl captain (won 3rd at states), math stuff - went to HCSSiM, quizbowl (second at states), badminton, piano (won some awards listed above)
Job: tutor at math learning center
Community service: some piano recitals, tutor outside of school/work
Summer experience: HCSSiM, Governor’s school, IIYM

Essays
Common: talked about my summer experiences and how they helped me develop. pretty meh (6/10)
Supplement: talked about how a role model helped me grow as a badminton player/person, better (8/10)

Human interaction
Teacher rec #1: English teacher (8/10)
Teacher rec #2: Physics teacher (7/10) - both these numbers could be +/- 2. I really have no idea.
Counselor: (6/10) I read over it and it was ok, I didn’t really know him that well.
Supplemental rec: Piano teacher (9/10), quite strong.
Interview: went great, we planned on 30 minutes but ended up talking for an hour; he was fascinating. (10/10)
Arts supplement: sent in a piano supplement, but the playing wasn’t my best

Other
Date submitted: Oct 31
US State: VA
School type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian/Chinese
Gender: male
Income bracket: upper middle class
Hooks: lol no

Reflection:
Strengths: raw academics - GPA and scores
Weaknesses: too stereotypically Asian, centered my app around math even though my AMC scores weren’t so hot, no really national level stuff. Essays could have been better and I’m unsure about the quality of my recommenders.
Why deferred: ^
Things to change?: improve my essays and bring out my inner voice, get some other recommenders?
Where else applied: HYPSM, Penn, UVA, VT, Duke, Uchicago, maybe some more

13

**Decision: Deferred **

[ b]Objective:**
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 800/740/800
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2340
ACT (breakdown):
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score): Bio (M) 800, Math II 770, Chem 750
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.5 (school offers no AP or Honors, only a limited number of “Advanced” courses)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No official rank, but definitely top 10%
AP (place score in parentheses): None (school offers no APs)
IB (place score in parentheses): None (school offers no IBs)
Senior Year Course Load: Linear Algebra & Multivar. Calculus Adv, Biology II Adv, Phys I Adv, African History Adv, English IV (Advanced not offered)
Number of other EA applicants in your school: None that I know of
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): National Merit Semifinalist (again, small school so no honors societies or anything like that, so not that many opportunities for awards)

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Zebrafish neuroscience research at UPenn (10-12)
Science Core Team (10-12)
Mock Trial (12)
Math Lab Tutor (10-12)
Feminist club (11-12)
JV (9,10) and Varsity (11,12) Softball
JV tennis (9-11)

Job/Work Experience: Research internship (above), private math tutor, camp counselor (9th grade only)
Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteering through my school, only 5 days per year
Summer Experience: Upenn research, travel to peru, ecuador, china, amsterdam, england

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays: common app 8/10, I revised it after sending in Princeton app. Princeton supplement 9/10
What You Do For Pleasure: I have played piano for 12 years
Department at Princeton: Neuroscience
World You Come From: Philadelphia, PA
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Literature, 11/10, teacher loved me and was a family friend
Teacher Recommendation #2: Bio, 11/10, I was a leader in that class and I am most enthusiastic about bio, good relationship with teacher
Counselor Rec: 9/10, he though I had a promising application but he has no strong feelings towards anyone really
Additional Info/Rec: Rec from the PI of the lab I volunteered in over the summer, 9/10
Interview: 7/10, it went okay but the woman who interviewed me was kinda cold and I was really nervous because it was my first one
Art Supplement: n/a

[ b]Other**

Date Submitted App: 11/1/16
U.S. State/Territory or Country: USA
School Type: Private Quaker
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: >$150k
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): My grandparents from Britain were visiting professors at P in the early 2000s. My grandfather had a pretty prestigious position at P and he was later knighted by the Queen of England for his work in Ancient History.

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths: Grades, scores, research, recs, essays (?)
Weaknesses: Extracurriculars (lacking in leadership!!)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Honestly it’s so random, and it doesn’t help that I’m white. I knew I didn’t have a great chance because I’m not all that special. I thought that my recs
What would you have done differently?: Joined clubs freshman year!!! You need to join early to get leadership positions later on, and i just had no idea so I joined like 2 bs clubs. Also my school offers no APs, IBs, Honors, or very many good clubs so I was at a real disadvantage
Where else did you apply? Harvard, Yale, Stanford, UChicago, Northwestern, Upenn, Vandy, Emory, GW, WashU, USC, MIT, Northeastern, Brandeis, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Case Western Reserve University

[ b]General Comments & Advice:** Join clubs, get leadership positions. Choose something you’re passionate about and pursue it. Don’t just join clubs because your friends joined them.

14

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 34 C E 36 M 33 R 32 S 33
ACT superscore (breakdown): only took once!
SAT II (subject, score): 780 M2, 690 Lit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Weighted GPA: 4.67
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5
AP (place score in parentheses): n/a
IB (place score in parentheses): n/a (did not submit)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Calculus BC, IB Theory of Knowledge II, IB English HL, IB Spanish IV HL, IB World Topics HL, IB Psych HL, Honors Chorus
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 0
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): n/a
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Honor roll, National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta(Math Honor Society), La Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica (Spanish Honor Society)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Technology Student Association (State Council, Regional President, Chapter Vice President), HELP Club (community service club my friends and I founded), Math Honor Society (Vice Pres), Liberty in North Korea Rescue Team (founder/president), Soprano Leader for Chorus, MUN (discontinued at my school but I chaired at a conference and have won awards), Recreational Soccer for 10 years

Job/Work Experience: n/a
Volunteer/Community Service: Created a community service club at my school, I have been volunteering for my county’s Recreation and Parks throughout high school, overall around 200-300 hours of community and service
Summer Experience: Entrepreneurship Bootcamp at VCU

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays: Common app 7/10, Princeton 8/10

Teacher Recommendation #1: IB Math SL teacher, liked me a lot and I know him pretty well so probably 8.5/10
Teacher Recommendation #2: IB Psych SL/HL teacher, one of my fav teachers and worked very hard in his class, I’d say 9.5/10
Counselor Rec: She cared about me a lot and knew me/liked me better than most other students. Probably a 10/10
Interview: went great - lasted around 45 minutes, I apparently showed a lot of passion but it seemed like he got bored because he didn’t talk a lot… however, I talked about some personal problems and he sent me an article that he read, which dealt with what I was going through! I’d say a 8/10

Other

Date Submitted App: Oct 31
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Virginia
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian/Chinese (did not put on common app, but talked about my ethnicity in my essays)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: upper middle class

Reflection

Strengths: ACT score, rank/GPA, course load (woo IB), teacher recs, extracurriculars!!
Weaknesses: definitely essays and SAT IIs, ACT writing was also low, no hooks
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: my essays could have been improved and my SAT IIs probably made them think twice
What would you have done differently?: showed more passion in my essays, taken my SAT IIs earlier so there would be space for improvement, asked teachers to help me fix my essays
Where else did you apply?: UVA EA, will apply to Yale, UPenn, Duke, William and Mary, University of Richmond

General Comments & Advice:
Honestly I’m very happy about getting deferred! I was expecting rejection, and although this isn’t exactly an acceptance, there is hope still. My advice would be to work very hard throughout all of high school and to be passionate about something, whether it is a hobby or a club. Congrats to everyone who made it this round!

15

[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:**

SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2360: 800/800/760/8
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2360: 800/800/760/8
SAT II (subject, score): Math II, 800; Bio-M, 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: ~4.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10
AP (place score in parentheses): 15 APs, all 5’s but 1
Number of other EA applicants in your school: ~4
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): USABO semifinalist, NACLO semifinalist
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar, random essay competition

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays: 9/10 (tempted to say 10/10, wrote a really good long essay and common app)
What You Do For Pleasure: Running, league of legends,
World You Come From: Earth

Teacher Recommendation #1: 9/10 AP lang teacher, really liked me
Teacher Recommendation #2: 10/10 AP bio teacher and Science Olympiad sponsor
Counselor Rec: 9/10
Additional Info/Rec: talked more about science, rec from my research mentor 9/10
Interview: 10/10 interviewer was a mol biol person so we hit it off

[ b]Other**

School Type: Charter
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Hooks: nothing

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths: strong focus in science, good body of work in research, good essays
Weaknesses: lack of awards
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: strong focus in science
What would you have done differently?: nothing, my essays really reflected my personality so I am happy
Where else did you apply? Harvard

[ b]Other Factors: **
had a lot of fun with my essay, which may have shown through

[ b]General Comments & Advice:**
take a deep breath

16

Just to let you guys know, I wrote this before decisions came out, so it may sound negative. I also used a different format.

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t send
ACT (breakdown): 35 (E: 34, R: 36, M: 35, S: 34, W: 36)
SAT II: Math II: 770, Literature: 720
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (5.0 weighted)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 out of 587
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry: 4 – school has low offerings of APs
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, French 7-8H, Strength and Conditioning, Honors Writing, AP Bio, AP Psych, English 8 Honors, Honors Sociology (some are semester courses)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): State awards in journalism, debate, math; National Merit Semifinalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • Newspaper (9-12) (Editor in Chief)
  • Debate (9-12) (Captain), Speech (10-12)
  • NHS (President)
  • English Honor Society (President)
  • Lit Magazine (Editor)
  • Math Team
    Job/Work Experience: Paid intern for local newspaper
    Volunteer/Community service:
  • Camp Counselor for a summer camp for grade school students.
    Summer Activities: Two selective, all-expenses-paid journalism programs
    Essays (rating 1-10, details):
  • Common App (7/10): I wrote on my speech impediment and a specific, unique incident before transitioning into how my impediment formed me and my love for words, despite not being able to say some of them.
  • Supplement (7/10): Chose the quote prompt and wrote on my regret to stay silent when I witnessed an injustice. It showed my regret, and, hopefully, my want to do better. It definitely answered how my perspective of the world had changed. The content was solid, but there were some points where the reader could tell I was painting my own makeup as I wrote.
  • Extracurricular (8/10): Wrote on how working for my school’s newspaper made me break personal boundaries
  • Summer (8/10): Candid, brief reflection (in paragraph form) on what I did and highlighted some quirky aspects of my summer and my background.
  • Short Takes (10/10): Truthful – quirky and serious.
    Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: English (9/10) Didn’t read, but I adore this teacher. For one of my recs, she told me that she basically wrote that I could walk on water.
Teacher Rec #2: History (9/10) A “one of the best.” She let me read, and it was less on academics, as it is on the impact I made at my school.
Counselor Rec: (7/10) Didn’t read – I’m well known at my school, so I assume it’s positive. It probably isn’t concrete enough.
Additional Rec:

  • City Editor for local newspaper (7/10): She supervised my internship and should be a good writer. We weren’t that close on a personal level, but she could attest to my journalism.
  • Alumni (7/10): I actually didn’t ask for this rec. He submitted it on my behalf. I’m not sure how the committee reacted to this. Maybe it just repeated what my other recs said? Maybe it gave more context on my high school? Who knows?
    Interview: Very relaxed. I’m naturally awkward, so, of course, I had some nervous/awkward movements. I could’ve answered a few questions better.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: English w/ certificates in Creative Writing and Teacher Preparation
State (if domestic applicant): Midwest
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public (2000+, ~50% go to 4-year colleges)
Ethnicity: Southeast Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: <$25,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First gen, underrepresented part of my state, low-income

Reflection

Strengths: Recs (though I might have had too many recs), Essays, ACT
Neutral: Extracurriculars, Awards
Weaknesses: SAT II
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I had good scores, though they weren’t perfect. But I made up for it with an application that showed my leadership and highlighted my passion for journalism. My two long essays focused on my “failures,” which may or may not humanized me.
Where else did you apply? Alabama, Iowa, Illinois, Emory, WashU – But I’m withdrawing all those apps!
What would you have done differently?: I would’ve tried to find my passion earlier, but finding passions is hard.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted to Alabama (Honors), Iowa (Honors)

General Comments: On another results thread, someone had posted that these threads can be incredibly dehumanizing, and I definitely agree. I used to compare myself to people whose parents made a lot more money than mine did and went to schools that had a lot more resources than mine did. But, every once in a while, I saw the profile that came from someone like me. Someone who goes to a school where the fights are massive, the amount of AP classes is low, and the students scoff at “rich” schools. And this is who the profile is for. Just remember that this profile took my application to its bare bones, and you and your story? That has flesh.

Not sure if it matters, but I didn’t get a financial aid email, and my counselor (as far as I know) didn’t get a request for first quarter grades.

Anyways, I’m still screaming. I’m so proud of you all.

17

I told myself I’d only do this if I got in, because there’s really no point if I’m deferred, but I figured I’d share anyway because it might give me closure??
Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): M740/ R750/ W770/ E10
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 2260 (only took it twice and my other full score was like a 2070 riP)
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
ACT superscore (breakdown): N/A
SAT II (subject, score): Math II, 800 (I thought this would make up for my 740 in math, but alas) Chem, 710 (yikes)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Honestly no clue my school’s grading is so wack like we have H’s and HH’s and this year there are HH+'s and stuff
Weighted GPA: ://// Like basically all As, sorry I literally do not know
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parentheses): School doesn’t offer AP courses (my school sucks)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Molecular Biology (Honors), Calculus 1-2 Honors (basically AP calc BC), Latin 4 Honors, Statistics (Honors, equivalent to an AP course?), Advanced Ballet
Number of other EA applicants in your school: I think like 8, but honestly do not know
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): N/A :frowning:
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): I got First Testimonials my first year, and First Testimonials with honor my sophmore and junior years, NLE silver medals every year, the PSAT letter of commendation thing (basically I’m second place always rip me)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Ballet, 14 years, in the ballet company at school, sent an arts supplement
Student Council, 2 years, junior year rep and dorm rep
Library prefect, 2 years, work in the library
Starred in a one act play at school
Other random stuff that’s in my activities that might not be worth mentioning

Job/Work Experience:
Dunkin Donuts freshman year summer
Learning Center junior year summer

Volunteer/Community Service:
Required 10 hours every year, nothing more :///

Summer Experience:
ABT intensive sophmore summer

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays: Ugh I love my commonapp (10/10). Thought it would be enough to help squeeze me in, but sadly nope. Was a letter to ballet thanking it for all that it’s taught me
Princeton supplement (like an 8/10)? I wrote about how my mom never hindered my curiosity as a child and thus allowed me to learn and become independent
What You Do For Pleasure: Ballet lol
Department at MIT: What
Trait Most Proud Of: Kindness
World You Come From: New Jersey? I live in NJ
Significant Challenge: I feel like this might’ve been copied from another school lol
Additional Essay/QB Essays:
Other (teacher’s subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Teacher Recommendation #1: Very good. He taught me freshman year and again junior year. He was also my adviser and I talked to him about everything. His adviser comments were good, so I’d imagine his recommendation was good too. I need to write to him and thank him for everything.
Teacher Recommendation #2: Not as hot. I was doing very well in her math class when I asked her, but things got in the way and I didn’t do as well towards the end of the year. I really liked her, though, and I think she liked me so hopefully it was good?
Counselor Rec: I’m not super close with my counselor, but I can’t imagine that it’d be bad.
Additional Info/Rec: My dance teacher wrote this one, and I know it must have been good because she’s seen me go through a lot of stuff, and we can talk for hours about life and stuff and I really like her and I think she likes me. I thought that maybe her rec would be good enough to push me in, but typing up this thing makes me realize how much my application was actually lacking.
Interview: SO GOOD. I WISH THIS HELD MORE WEIGHT. Like at the end I said something about how it was my first interview and that I was so nervous, but I thanked her for making it not stressful and that I hoped all my interviews would be like this and she said that she hoped that this would be my last interview!!! Ahh that gave me so much hope :’) but now it feels like my dreams were crushed lol.
Art Supplement: I think it was pretty good. I’ve gotten so much stronger since freshman year and since I recovered from my injury and stuff, but Princeton only wanted solos and I only had a few solo performances so it was kind of lacking I guess.

Other

Date Submitted App: Ah like October 30th I think (but does this matter?)
U.S. State/Territory or Country: New Jersey
School Type: Private boarding
Ethnicity: Asian (the tragedy)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: ://///////////////////
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): none, sadly.

Reflection

Strengths: I want to believe that my application was genuine and I’m proud of myself for that. I think I made it clear that ballet has been a huge part of my life, but I’m not amazing by any means and I guess that must have shown in my supplement. My essays were good though. I’m really proud of them.
Weaknesses: No APs, pretty basic test scores, no IB things, honestly kind of a ditz, no awards, not enough extracurriculars?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: there just wasn’t enough in my application to set me apart from the thousands of qualified people that applied. It’s okay though, I’m still hopeful for the spring :slight_smile:
What would you have done differently?: Done more with my summers, worked harder to get perfect grades, maybe taken prefectship, didn’t slack of in precalc junior year. Honestly this question kind of sucks because it just makes you feel bad that you didn’t do more.
Where else did you apply? Nowhere

General Comments & Advice:
As bitter as I am (only slightly I swear), I’m so happy for everyone that got in early to the school they wanted to go to. It’s incredible to know where you’re going and ahh to just be done with this whole terribly long and painful process, and I’m so jealous, but I really am so glad that there are people who can relax and enjoy their holidays. Good luck to everyone who’s still applying. I hope everyone gets in where they want to go!! But I believe in fate and the universe and I know everyone will end up where they’re supposed to be :slight_smile:

18

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1580 (790 Reading and Writing, 790 Math, 22 Essay)
ACT (breakdown): 35 Composite (36 English, 35 Math, 33 Reading, 36 Science, 33 Writing)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Biology M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 UW, 4.85 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (5), US History (5), BC Calc (5), Lang and Comp (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP French, AP Stats
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nothing extremely major… National Merit Commended, AP Scholar with Distinction, Harvard Book Award, French Honor Society, National Honor Society, and a bunch of school academic awards.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • Varsity Tennis (Captain)
  • Invention/Science Camp (Camp Counselor)
  • National Honor Society (Officer)
  • Asian Culture Club (President)
  • Math Team
  • Biology lab aide

Job/Work Experience:

  • Intern at biomedical company
  • Teacher assistant at local language school (won award for best teacher assistant)

Volunteer/Community service:

  • Invention/Science Camp (Camp Counselor)
  • Volunteer at local hospital
  • Volunteer at town library

Summer Activities:

  • Internship at biomedical company
  • Summer program at Brown
  • Invention/Science Camp (Camp Counselor)
  • Hiking/traveling with family

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

  • Common App: 7/10, I think I could have made this stronger
  • Supplements: 8/10, I worked hard on these, but idk what they were looking for really

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: AP Bio teacher 9/10, did well in class, work as lab aide
Teacher Rec #2: AP Lang teacher 9/10, did well in class, connected with teacher
Counselor Rec: 8/10 didn’t know super well, but she definitely likes me a lot
Additional Rec: none
Interview: 5/10 did not do well. Super awkward, I feel like I came off as inarticulate and slightly unprepared.

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Molecular Biology
State (if domestic applicant): New England
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public, competitive atmosphere with many legacy students
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F
Income Bracket: Upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): lol my cousin went to Princeton, but cousins are not really counted as legacies

Reflection:
Strengths: Grades, test scores, teacher recs
Weaknesses: Interview, Asian, interested in biology (very popular major), many strong legacy applicants from my school, should have made my essays stronger
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Just didn’t really stand out :frowning:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments : Congrats to those accepted! To those deferred or rejected, it’s okay, we’ll get through this together! Keep your head up.

19

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective

SAT I (breakdown): 1570 (new SAT, 800 M, 770 CR and W, 21 Essay)

ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0

Weighted GPA : 4.8148/5.0

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/776

AP (place score in parenthesis): Computer Science (5), World History (5), Chinese (5), Language and Composition (5), Physics 1 (5), Chemistry (5), BC Calculus (5), AB Subscore (5), Statistics (5), US History (4 :-O)
IB (place score in parenthesis):

Senior Year Course Load: Multivariable Calculus, Health/Speech, Orchestra, AP Biology, AP Literature and Composition, AP Physics 2

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, National AP Scholar, 2-time AIME qualifier (almost USAMO darn), USACO Platinum competitor, way too much piano stuff (mostly state level)

Subjective

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

computer science club (Team Captain), varsity orchestra and symphony, competitive math and programming, piano

Job/Work Experience: piano accompaniment

Volunteer/Community service: coaching math for my junior high’s MATHCOUNTS team, traveling with my orchestra to play at hospitals and other locations around town

Summer Activities: A-Star Programming Camp (2 summers), Harvard Pre-College Program (1 summer), normal stuff like traveling, studying, watching TV, playing League

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

-Common App (9.5/10): probably the best thing I’ve ever written. I went a bit overboard with the symbolism and imagery, but I think it creatively and effectively conveys everything I feel about computer science.

-Princeton Supplement (8/10): Not of literary merit, but not terrible either

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): didn’t see them, but they should be decent.
Teacher Rec #1: (6/10) English teacher, meh.
Teacher Rec #2: (9/10) Computer Science teacher and sponsor of the computer science club. Four years of programming contests together, and we know each other well enough to spend car rides making inappropriate jokes
Counselor Rec: (6) didn’t know her too well.
Additional Rec: (9/10) orchestra director, knows how hard I work (I made the symphony, which ranked #1 last year, after only a year of learning the violin) and seen me mature over time
Interview: went OK. Didn’t last much over the planned time, but the conversation flowed and she said she would write a really nice review.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes

Intended Major: Computer Science

State (if domestic applicant): TX

Country (if international applicant):

School Type: Public high school

Ethnicity: Chinese

Gender: Male

Income Bracket: 100K-125K

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: pretty much perfect GPA and test scores, decent competitive programming results (top 25ish in the nation, probably best in the state), amazing art portfolio
Weaknesses: Lack of work, research, or business experience, being a Chinese male applying for computer science

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: ^
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to UT’s Turing Scholars Program

What would you have done differently?: Before the application, nothing much. I pursued the activities I was passionate about (music and computer science). If that’s too common or stereotypical, then so be it. Of course, anyone’s achievements and application could always be a little stronger.
Where else did you apply: As of posting, I have also applied to UT Austin, Princeton, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and Harvard. Time to finish some safeties I guess…

General Comments

Warning: cliche post

Princeton, like other top-tier schools, is a reach for everyone. Getting an A in every class won’t guarantee admission. Perfect SAT or ACT scores won’t cut it. Neither will 5 IMO gold medals, competing in the Summer Olympics, or a bargain with the devil to let Hemingway write your essays (although these obviously help). But at the same time, you don’t need any of these.

To accepted applicants, congratulations! You deserve every bit of your success. I recommend Game of Thrones; its awesome. =D>

And to those deferred or rejected, you’re probably disappointed. I know I am.
But remember that college applications can be unpredictable. If Princeton didn’t want us, that’s their loss. Remember that somewhere out there is the perfect college that does — we just need to keep looking for it. Finally, remember that you are an amazing and unique individual. No opinion from Princeton, or any college for that matter, will ever change that.

20

**Decision: Deferred **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 770 M, 720 V
ACT (breakdown): 32 (33 science, 33 math, 33 writing, 32 english, 30 reading)
SAT II: Did not take
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.75
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 19/129
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC (5), Calc AB (5), English Lang (5), Statistics (5), Physics 1 (5), Microeconomics (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Macro, AP World, AP Chem, APES, AP Psych, Honors English IV, Honors Civics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 1 issued and 2 pending US patents without the help of a patent attorney, presented scientific research at international conference as first author

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): University Engineering Team, Patents, Scientific Research, Founder of a startup that is seeking to gain FDA approval for a medical device
Job/Work Experience: I work 20 hours a week landscaping to help support my parents buy groceries due to my dad’s longstanding unemployment for the last six years. Has impacted academic performance.
Volunteer/Community service: Environmental conservation stuff
Summer Activities: Research, working
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Maybe 8/10 idk. I thought it was fairly unique and personal. Wrote it about cooking and my interest in eradicating lung cancer.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9/10 from AP Econ teacher. Read it and he said in the rec that I would accomplish great things for society with the right resources. Went on to say that my entrepreneurial endeavors were inspiring.
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10 from AP Chem teacher. She told me it was a glowing rec letter but I never read it.
Counselor Rec: 7/10. Counselor just restated my resume- I got all top 1% check boxes except for character which was only marked as top 10%. This may have hurt my app.
Additional Rec: Did not submit
Interview: I thought it went really well. We talked a lot about medical research and my background. He said that he hopes I get accepted.

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): NC
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Charter
Ethnicity: African-American/Caucasian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: <20k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, low income, first generation college

Reflection

Strengths: Hooks, SAT, ECs
Weaknesses: Unweighted GPA, Class Rank
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Deferred because of grades, which did not improve senior year RIP my chances. I also only took 2 yrs of foreign language.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: No other decisions yet. Applying to UMich EA, Vanderbilt, Stanford, NC State, Carnegie Mellon, Harvey Mudd, Rice, Penn, Cornell, Columbia. I also might apply to Northwestern.

General Comments: Early action is a waste of time. In hindsight, I should have applied Early Decision to Columbia University, where I most likely would have gotten accepted since I did their diversity fly-in. Congrats to everyone who got accepted!